


we never know what we have

by micksgotkicks



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, keith is emotionally constipated, lotor needs a hug probably, they're just tryna get through this shit together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-07 07:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14666691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/micksgotkicks/pseuds/micksgotkicks
Summary: When Lotor shows up on his fire escape broken and bruised, Keith does his best to pick up the pieces. Lotor isn't the only one in need of being put back together, though.





	we never know what we have

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starryrosez](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryrosez/gifts).



> tw: you see the aftermath of lotor getting beaten up pretty badly and there's mention of zarkon being an abusive father. nothing too detailed but read with caution if any of that bothers you!
> 
> keitor playlist i made to get myself into a writing mood can be found [here](https://open.spotify.com/user/micky-has-a-fez/playlist/5ibS2Ojw2E4vBJuk2UAXY7)
> 
> title and lyrics taken from quarter past midnight by bastille

_this is my favorite part oh_

_help me piece it all together darling_

~

“What the hell are you doing on my fire escape?”

Keith’s words don’t have as much bite as they normally do. He spent his day outrunning the Galra Gang and he barely scrounged up enough cash to buy himself dinner. Needless to say, he doesn't have the patience to deal with some drunken transient who managed to climb three stories on a rusty fire escape.

The figure was leaning up against his window which Keith had forgotten to close when he left this morning. Not that you can close it much more anyway; it’s a shitty window.

“Apologies,” the figure says, his voice smooth and familiar despite the obvious pain he’s in. Recognition dawns on Keith almost immediately.

“Lotor?”

“The one and only.”

Keith manages to open the window even more before he can think better of it. “Are you okay? How did you even get all the way up here?” He slings Lotor’s arm over his shoulder, taking more vigilance than any person has at 1am to maneuver him through the shitty window and into his equally shitty apartment. Coran’s closet probably has more square footage, the paint on the walls is peeling, and the lock on the door has been broken for who knows how long. He’s had worse, though.

“With great difficulty, I assure you.” Lotor hisses, clutching at his side as his face twists in pain. It’s really an appalling sight, seeing golden boy Lotor with his clothes dirty and bruises littered across his arms and neck. “I suppose you’re wondering why I climbed in through your window rather than using the front door?”

Keith knows exactly why but says nothing. Instead, he presses his lips into a thin line and carefully leads Lotor over to his unmade bed. “Why didn’t you just go to the hospital?” he finally asks, once he's gotten his friend situated into a somewhat comfortable position.

Lotor gapes at him like a fish, as if he hadn’t even considered it. Keith sighs, getting to his feet. The silence follows him out of the room as he wets a paper towel in the sink and snatches up whatever bandages he can find in the medicine cabinet.

He returns, wiping the blood and dirt from Lotor’s face as best he can. “Do you want an ice pack?”

“No, I’m quite alright.” He’s not, and both of them know it. Keith gets him an ice pack anyway.

Another tense silence falls over them as Keith cleans the gash on Lotor’s arm.

“I wanted to make sure you were safe.” Lotor’s voice is barely above a whisper, but he catches Keith’s attention all the same.

Keith looks up at him, blinking once, then twice. “What?”

“I wanted to make sure you were safe,” Lotor repeats, except this time his bright eyes are meeting Keith’s and he can’t even begin to decipher all the emotions swimming in them.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Keith breaks the moment, dropping his gaze back down to the cut he’s dressing.

Lotor hesitates and that alone is so unlike him that it makes Keith tense.

“There have been…talks among more radical members of the Galra Gang.” Lotor swallows thickly.

“Talks?” Keith places a too-small bandage on the cut and moves on to dab at the one just above Lotor’s eyebrow. Their eyes meet again and Keith’s breath catches in his throat. He jerks his gaze away, reaching for another bandage.

“They want to start targeting people here, in Balmera,” Lotor says.

Keith flinches, his eyes widening. “But this is Voltron territory.”

“Exactly.”

Keith’s hands drop to the frame of his bed, fingers curling around the cold metal. “You’re saying they’re planning an attack on Voltron?”

Lotor nods. “Members of Voltron, yes.”

“But I’m not part of Voltron anymore.”

“That hardly matters to them.”

“But—“

“Keith.” Suddenly Lotor is sitting up, or at least as best he can in his condition. “You were an integral part of bringing back the Marmora. It’s because of you the Galra are finally seeing a shift in power. People are fighting back after all these years.” He places his hands over Keith’s, so gentle and so unlike all the stories he heard as a child in foster care of the evil, brutal Galra. “They’d be fools not to know your worth and that’s what frightens me.”

Keith studies their hands. Lance and Pidge never approved of his attachment to Lotor, even when he was still a leading member of Voltron. And yet, who kept coming back to him time and again? It wasn’t Voltron.

“I’m sure it doesn’t help that I’m friends with the head of the Galra leader’s only son,” Keith finally says, cracking a half-hearted grin.

Lotor’s smile is weak, but it warms Keith to his very bones. “My father seems to think I’m spilling gang secrets to you,” Lotor murmurs.

Keith raises an eyebrow. “Aren’t you?”

“If these bruises are any evidence.” Lotor winces as he rubs his fingers down the deeper, purple marks on his arm. Keith knows Zarkon doesn’t do the dirty work himself, but that doesn’t make it any less disturbing.

Anger is suddenly boiling up inside Keith, red and hot and furious. How could a man do this to his own son? Even Zarkon, who’s killed hundreds and terrorized even more. It isn’t right. Lotor doesn’t deserve to have a father that thinks of his own child as an expendable. He doesn’t deserve being beaten within an inch of his life. And for what? Having a friend? Coming to Keith’s aid when he needed Lotor most?

“This isn’t fair,” Keith grits out between clenched teeth. His fingers curl into a tight fist and he wants nothing more than to send it flying into Zarkon’s teeth. “You shouldn’t have to go back to that. He can't force you!” _What if you never come back? _is left unsaid, hanging in the air between them.__

____

____

“You know I have to.” Lotor’s hand wraps around his once more, holding firm until Keith finally relaxes his fist and lowers his head.

Keith can feel the tears welling up but he refuses to cry. He’s the one who should be comforting Lotor, not the other way around. “No, you don’t,” he says, an urgency in his tone that he hopes might sway Lotor. “You can stay here. I can call Shiro and convince him to send some guards to—“

He’s cut off by Lotor tracing his cheek with an astonishingly delicate touch.

“I am an adult. My father has no say in who I choose to associate with.” He lifts his head and they are close, so very close. Barely a hair’s breadth separates them and Lotor's voice is just below a whisper. His gaze flickers to Keith’s lips before returning to his meet his eyes. “Nor where my allegiances lie.”

Keith presses his forehead against Lotor’s, squeezing his eyes shut. “Please,” he begs, his voice sounding hoarse and completely foreign. “Stay with me, just for a few days. At least until you’re rested and we can figure something out.”

Lotor stares at him with an unreadable expression before finally, _finally_ relenting. “Very well. If you insist.”

Suddenly becoming very aware of their close proximity, Keith draws back. His shoulders relax though, relief flooding through him. “You can be such a stubborn ass, you know that?”

The corners of Lotor’s mouth turn up. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

They both laugh softly, Lotor mindful not to cause himself more pain than he's already in and Keith thanking every god from every religion that Lotor is alive and safe. They savor this moment of amity, soaking it up like the first rays of sun poking through the clouds after a thunderstorm. It doesn’t take long for them to fall asleep, curled around each other on Keith’s shitty bed. They’re warm and content and even though it’s only for a few, fleeting hours, their world is at peace.

~

_before it falls apart oh_

_help me piece it all together_

**Author's Note:**

> y'all thought you were gonna get a kiss didn't you? cuz uhhhh i did too yet here we are. this came out way more angsty than i intended, dear god.
> 
> kudos are appreciated and comments will be fashioned into lions to form voltron


End file.
